VRMMORPTDTBSG
by lijdgreat916
Summary: Welcome to Sword Art Online! The world's first Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Tower Defense Turn-Based Strategy Game, exclusively for the Nerve Gear Console. Battle enemies, build your empire, and conquer the universe of Aincrad. From the creator of the Nerve Gear, Kayaba Akihiko.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: Seeing as how FAN FICTION is in the site's name, I probably don't even need to do this. But, seeing as how I've been smoked over worse, I don not own Sword Art Online. This piece of fiction is written entirely for entertainment purposes, and absolutely no parties benefit from me writing this. Actually, I get the ability to say " Yeah, Thomas, I CAN write a somewhat decent fic!" On with the show.

* * *

PROLOUGE

* * *

Normally, seeing someone getting crushed by a two story building would elicit at least a scream, but all I did was rush ahead on the battlefield, with my sword, revolver, and only two med kits.

It's not as though I felt for the guy, but this was Aincrad.

A timer appeared on my HUD, signaling that I only had a single minute to get somewhere relatively safe. Drawing my revolver, a small holographic screen popped up on the HUD. I cycled from my Towers to my Safehouses. Selecting one of my strongest, I took aim at the ground, and pulled the' gun's trigger. Three seconds passed, and a familiar whooshing sound filled the air. I looked up just in time in the orange sky to see a dome shaped metal building crash on top of me.

For a few moments, panic overwhelmed me, as my vision was bathed in black. Had the system accidentally sent a solid building on top of me instead of a hollowed out Safehouse? Was this Game Over? No, it couldn't be! Out of all the players that were attempting to clear the Boss Planet, I was the only Meckanist. Without me, the entire raiding party's defenses would fall! This wasn't happ-

And then the lights within the Safehouse turned on.

Letting out a breath I was all too aware I was holding, I walked to one of the building's four portholes.

Outside, I saw a fellow player also encased in a Safehouse. His eyes caught mine, and he waved at me. Smiling, I waved back as well, just as a loud and ominous chime rang through my eyes. The timer had stopped. Walking to the porthole opposite, I spotted a couple of enemies heading my way.

Sentry Guards were few in number and easy to take on in a group. Provided you had a Dredknott in your party, you could bag quite a few experience points with little to no effort. Some players, myself included, even went out of way to find secluded planets filled with them, just to level up faster. Although they were weak, they had a passive ability that allowed them to break through defensive fortifications with greater ease than other enemies. This was why my face was in a state of worry.

As they approached my building, one of them broke into a sprint and initiated a Linear. As the Sword Art pierced the concrete building, another a message in my HUD notified me that the Safehouse had taken sixteen damage. As the other sentries caught up to their buddy, they began an onslaught.

Attack after attack, seven guards attempted to break into my temporary fortress. For four entire minutes, they wouldn't let up. However, by the time the notification message popped on my HUD proclaiming the enemies turn would be over in sixty seconds, I had calmed down. The Sentry Guards had only managed to chip away forty percent of my Safehouse's HP. A smug grin on my face, I returned to the other porthole to see how the other player was faring.

His Safehouse was in ruins.

Twelve enemies surrounded him, striking away at his Personal Shield. Every time a Guard attacked him, his skin would flash blue.

_ENEMY Turn: 26sec. remaining._

One of the Guards used a Linear on the player. His skin abruptly changed to a flashing red, signaling his shield was in critical condition.

_ENEMY Turn: 13sec. remaining._

Time seemed to slow down as I desperately tried to break the porthole I was watching him through. Even though I knew I couldn't physically break my own Safehouse, I kept trying. I had to rescue him, dammit!

_ENEMY Turn: 7sec. remaining._

A loud clash reverberated through my ears as the player's Personal Shield broke. He snuck a glance at me, and smiled, almost knowingly.

_ENEMY Turn: 2sec. remaining._

A sentry swung his sword, and the player that would come to be known throughout Aincrad as Diabel, the first Leader of the ragtag guild Lets Get the Hell Outta Here, was no more.

_PLAYER Turn commencing._

* * *

It was only on the sixth planet that I realized why Diabel's Safehouse gave out faster before mine did. After talking to one of the planet's numerous NPC's, I discovered that buildings shot out by revolver-type guns have increased defense and HP.

Huh.

My name is Kazuto Kirigaya, AKA Kirito the Beater.

And I, along with 7,384 remaining players, am trapped in a death game.

Sword Art Online.


	2. Tutorial I

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. If I did, I would probably be furious at the way the second part of the anime series turned out. Seriously? Fairies? I've read the light novels, and I like them. But in my own opinoin, the anime series should have been wholly about the Aincrad arc, as it's basically what makes SAO SAO. This piece of fiction was wrote solely for the purpose of my enjoyment. Also, in order for clarification, the gameplay is basically a bastardization of Starhawk and the Disgaea series. Minus the guns. Aliens are present, though.

::::::::TUTORIAL - LOGGING IN::::::::

No matter what people said about people said about Mathew Reddeit, he would always consider himself to be extremly stubborn when he put his mind to it.

His father always considered Mathew to be a quitter in life, and in a way, he was. Having left colledge after attending for only three weeks, he proceeded to move back into his parent's house, proclaiming that if he were to pledge himself to something, it wouldn't be towards snooty learning. Of course, neither he nor his parents understood what that meant, but then again, say anything in a confident tone, and people would think you know what you're doing.

After procrastinating for eight months, Mathew happened upon a discarded MMO Today magazine at his local library. At first, he paid little attention to the article detailing the advent of the Nerve Gear, a virtual reality console developed by a small electronics company in Japan called Argus industries. Taking into consideration the numerous disastrous attempts to cash in on VR technology in the past, the Nerve Gear was destined to be yet another failed "Console of Tomorrow".

A slew of lackluster games later, and Mathew's suspicions seemed to hold some weight.

However, after the annoucement of Sword Art Online, a game said to be headed by Kayaba Akihiko, the creator of the Nerve Gear himself, the MMO world was taken by storm.

Several U-Tube clips, press demonstrations, live demos, and viscious marketing campaigns later, and Mathew Reddeit was one of millions following the progress of the critically acclaimed game. As the world's first game to incorperate elements of role-playing games, tower defense, real-time strategy, and multiplayer, it was unknown to the general public just how good the game would play.

Unfortunately, the game would only be released in Japan, and Argus hadn't exactly stated that they were interested in shipping it overseas. Combined with the fact only 10,00 copies would be available for purchase even in Japan, and Mathew realized his chances of obtaining a copy of Sword Art Online were very slim.

And so, through a series of events, he was in a cheap hotel in located somewhere in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, possesing only two sets of extra clothes, a banged up Nerve Gear headset he had acquired via ebay, a fake ID proclaiming he was a Japanese citizen, and a copy of his recent obession.

If Mathew put his mind to it, he could do anything.

It was a shame that in this case "anything" meant becoming a citizen of a foreign country in order to play a video game.

"Link...start."

And so, Mathew Reddeit, 23, Caucasian, citizen of America and technical illegal alien, was whisked away from his reality into a world built entirely off code.

His vision exploded into a frenzy of color, until it tuned down into a harsh shade of light. Japanese characters highlighted in pink ran across his HUD. It didn't really matter, seeing as how Mathew couldn't read the language. The loading screen appeared, saying the game needed to download 574 megabytes of data directly into the Nerve Gear's hardrive. Selecting the only button available, which Mathew correctly guessed as the confirm button, the loading bar slowly filled up.

Meanwhile, in the left corner of his HUD, a gray sillouette popped up, along with several other japanese characters, and the word "Randomize" in English. Selecting that option, the sillouette filled out into something that wouldn't look out of place in a Final Fantasy XIX cosplay party.

The virtual avatar had fair skin, with a mop of white spiky hair typical of a Japanese made game. It had gray eyes, a muscular build, and bore a leather breastplate and leg guards, which Mathew supposed was the starting gear for the game.

A message popped up on the right side of the HUD. Five words were outlined in black. Again, Mathew knew not the language, but due to his obsessive pastime of seraching articles related to SAO, he knew the words were character classes.

_Mekanist._ Medium strength, average range, low agility. Specialty: Tower Upgrades and Maintenance.

_Bountaineer. _Low strength, high range, average agility. Specialty: Long-range support and Player Buffs.

_Overlordian. _Average strength, medium range, high agility. Specialty: Scouting and Tactical Advantages.

_Dredknott. _High strength, average range, low agility. Specialty: Frontliner and Floor Clearer.

_Hosteliaran. _Medium strength, long range, high agility. Specialty: Item Recovery and Scavenging.

Mathew smirked. He picked _Mekanist_, and his avatar glew bright blue, before the light vanished and the avatar now sported two fingerless gloves and a large glowing wrench in his right hand.

Confirming his avatar and character choice, the screen blanked out, leaving a simple arrow in the HUD's left corner. Glancing at the loading bar and seeing it only half way full, Mathew selected the arrow and three paragraphs written, again, in Japanese appeared.

In an obscure online gaming magazine that he had found whilst looking for facts about SAO, Mathew discovered that not only did the game allow you to create in-game guilds, you could also choose from three seperate "Alliances" that were rooted in the games lore. Mathew supposed, once again correctly, that these paragraphs were what the article had been referring to.

Randomly picking the first, along with a message that he'd gained three skill points, the loading bar finally filled, and Mathew felt an abrubt pinching sensation in the back of his head, before he blacked out.

_INITIALIZING WORLD..._

The first thing on Mathew's mind as he awoke to a sky he could have mistook for his own, was:

I'm Home.

AN: Before anyone starts thinking this is an OC-centric fic, it's not...entirely. Mathew is an OC I came up with to have an excuse to write about the tutorial, and at the same time, show a snippet of someone who's kept up with the release of SAO. He's not a terribly important to the plot, but rather an explanation for the game. He'll appear time to time.


	3. The Launch

Disclaimer: I wrote this chapter on the Notes app of my iPod Touch 4. I then sent it to my email, put it on my computer's Wordpad, edited it, and then uploaded it. At 1 in the morning. Whilst listening to Yuki Kajiura non-stop. So no, I do not yet own Sword Art Online. Give it time.

* * *

A common misconception that people get from the box art of Sword Art Online is that it is fantasy game. Which is understandable, considering the picture depicts an oversized man holding a giant hammer helping an insanely hot girl wearing battle-lingerie battle a green leopard-octupus-thing. Not to mention the lack of badass-looking guns. In actuality, SAO is a science-fiction game.

This is clearly expressed by the Main Hub of the game.

According to in-game Lore, the Heathcliff, a massive deep-space ship, was built for the sole purpose of colonizing new planets after humanity had exhausted the resources of Earth. For players, it was a place to take a break from the hostile world below, stock up on weapons, med-kits, and to participate in a hidden side quest that involved a monkey, a pervert, a generator, and launching the aforementioned pervert into a black hole in order to save monkeys all over the universe, whilst fighting a scantily clad woman from Antarctica. When the Heathcliff is observed from the outside, it was a giant hulk of metal that appeared to be part of the sky itself. Unmoving, unwavering, and as intimidating as hell.

Of course, no one really bothered to look up at the Heathcliff, due to the fact that in order to do so, you'd have to take your eyes off your surroundings. Something even a newbie player wouldn't be willing to do in a game as hardcore as SAO. But I wasn't a newbie. Far from it.

In an MMO, it's considered suicide to venture out on any of the planets without a party. In fact, playing Solo was seen as an incredibly ballsy move in the Beta. Fortunately, I managed to do just that. On all eight planets thus far.

You'd think with over three months of beta testing a game, you'd be able to unlock more than just eight out of a hundred planets. But in all fairness, the universe of Aincrad was friggin' HUGE. Once the game officially released, it would take forever for me to see all 100 planets. I'd have to be plugged in all the time for that.

These thoughts and more ran through my head as I casually parried another blow from yet another player.

To celebrate the final day of the beta, the game masters decided to throw one last Tournament. The top three contenders would receive a premium copy of SAO one day before the official launch. The Game Masters weren't willing to spill what the premium version would conclude, so almost all of the 1000 beta testers were participating, myself included.

There were three main events, each with their own variations and rules.

One-on-One Duel was, well, exactly what it sounded like. Two players of roughly the same level would compete against each other, either until one had completely ran out of HP, or the timer reached zero. No Tower Plays, no Minions, and no Launchers.

The Battle Royale event boasted the most players, and was sure to end over quickly. Over 600 players crammed into an average sized map with the ability to deploy Auto Turrets, Healing Stations, and use the destructive War-Meks? Yeah, A LOTof people were gonna get GO'd. If you counted the Minions all the players would be using, a total of 3000 combatants were going to be dukeing it out.

The final event, Flash Mob, was considered the hardest, but only required you to play once. You would be placed inside a pre-selected map, with no Minions and limited Tower Plays. The system would then send mob after mob in an attempt to deplete your HP. Whoever lasted against the onslaught the longest would automatically become one of the three winners.

Now, I'm all for the chaos and carnage. That attitude comes with playing the game for weeks-on-end. But the biggest chance I'd have to win the premium copy was dueling, something the game's biggest info broker assured my I was stupidly good at. I was more accustomed to plain sword fighting anyway, most likely due to the kendo training my grandfather had ingrained in my skull.

Another parry. Block, sidestep, slash, block, feint left, thrust, slash, back pedal. My opponent was surprisingly mediocre.

Maybe that was why I had been burying myself in this game? Here, I was not berated for every mistaken foot pattern, and instead, I adapted. If I made a mistake, I would simply respawn at the nearest Grave Mark. If an opponent got to far out of reach, I could just pull out my Launcher, and in the next second a building would be where my opponent was. Here, in the universe of Aincrad, Kirigaya Kazuto the kendo prodigy became Kirito the Black Blur.

Once again, my opponent attempted to ready a Sword Art. I closed the distance between us and slashed at her upraised arm. Flinching at the interruption, she rapidly back pedaled in order to regain her composure. Not having any of that, I prepared my own Sword Art, the _Devil's Whip_, and rushed forward. Crouching low, she swiped at my feet, but I jumped over her prone form and unleashed the Sword Art. My sword turned into a ray of light, light as air and deadly as tempered steel. My system-enhanced blade became a mere blur as it repeatedly slashed away, large chunks of my opponent's HP disappearing.

Back pedal, block, parry, slash upwards, thrust.

Perhaps it was the natural rush that came with fighting an actual person. Well, not an _actual_ person, but the Nerve Gear could render objects so realistically to the point you couldn't tell the difference between this reality and the next.

My opponent had a look of panic on her face. In desperation, she prepared one last Sword Art. Before she could unleash it-

**_Time up. Winner: Kirito._**

I let out a sigh. Even though I had not taken a single point of damage during the duel, it took a lot out of me in order to dodge all those attacks. I stepped forward and shook hands with my opponent, who now wore a sheepish look. Even though in Real Life we would bow to each other, western customs were, for unspoken reasons, more easily accepted in the game.

Stepping out of the Arena, I was greeted by the sight of a single player.

"So, ya did pretty good in there. Was that a new Sword Art I saw? Give ya a 100 coll for the name."

Argo the Rat was the biggest info broker in SAO, and also one of my few acquaintances. She was also known throughout the game as a greedy coll pincher. I didn't know what she really looked like, but in the game she wore a brown cloak that obscured most of her body. I happened to know from personal experience that she kept a pair of _very_ sharp claws under it. Her avatar's hair was bright green, and had purple eyes with with six whisker marks on her cheeks, probably to better imitate her namesake.

"No deal, Argo. Besides, I don't need anymore coll, it's the last day of the beta. I don't think our items will carry over."

She put her hands on her hips and pouted. "Whatever. I just came to tell ya that the Battle Royale is almost over." She started walking to the giant monitors situated in the center of the Heathcliff's hull, and I followed without question.

Adjusting my coat sleeves,"How many players are left?"

Argo shrugged."Dun know. Give or take, fifty or less." She scratched her head. "None of 'em have any Minions left."

"Any Tower Plays?"

"Nah, its actually gettin' pretty boring. Just some guys running around gettin' lost in the map. Wanna go hunt some Minuhtorz one last time?"

I rubbed my left arm in phantom pain. "Uh... no thanks."

Again, she shrugged. "Your loss. How many matches ya got left?"

"Actually, that was the last one. I guess I won the event. They'll probably announce it at the end of the Tournament."

As I walked on, I noticed Argo had stopped walking and fallen behind me, her eyes downcast. "Argo?" In a blur she was up in my face, standing on her toes to reach my artificial height.

"Kirito. You. _Have_. To meet up with me once the game launches." From this close, I could almost see a faint sparkle in her eyes. "Kay?"

Something told me this wasn't a request. "Um, okay, I guess?"

And just like that, she was rushing to somewhere else, no doubt to tell her fellow info brokers that she knew what the premium copy of the game came with. Which was a total lie. Then again, she _would_ eventually know, as there was no way I could keep the information secret once I met up with her again. So in a twisted sort of way, it wasn't a lie.

I stood rooted to the spot, unsure of where to go. Now that Argo had went off to who knows where, I had no sense of direction. It suddenly occurred to me that the purpose of an MMO was to interact with other players. Other than Argo, there was only one other player I interacted with on a somewhat daily basis, and HE was someone I'd rather not think about.

Having nothing else to do or anyone to see, I decided to Log Off. Taking one last look at my surroundings, I smiled. In a month, I would come back to this world, ready to take on the challenge that was Aincrad. And then, I would be able to see more than just eight planets. Bringing up the menu, my finger lingered over the Log Out button, not wanting to push it.

Looking back, that was the last time I ever saw the Log Out button. Funny, how much I had taken something so small for granted.

* * *

Waiting in the Real World was painful. Unlike in SAO, you couldn't just bring up your inventory and fiddle with it while you were waiting for something. No, you actually had to wait as time slowly crept by, second by second. The only person I could even consider talking to has Suguha, but that option was out, as she was at the dojo with her friends at this time of the morning. As much as I longed for a release from my boredom, I would never willingly step foot into a dojo with Suguha.

It wasn't as if I didn't like my cousin. Rather, I was afraid it was the other way around. Every timeI got in the vicinity of a dojo with her, she would always suggest that we participate in a friendly little spar. And by "Suggest" I mean drag by my ear. And by "Friendly" I mean furious. And by "Spar" I mean... I think my point's gotten across. Anyway, I would always beat Suguha in a kendo match, which would make her furious, seeing as how I didn't even practice. And so she had dedicated herself to the sport, while I buried myself in my video games.

So it was that I had holed myself up in my room, curtains drawn and computer screen at full brightness. Had anyone else come in, I suppose they would have labeled me as a weirdo. I was looking through a small opening in between the curtains, awaiting the mail that would bring to me my premium copy of SAO. Again, I guess I really _did_look like a weirdo.

Being shut out of a world you've grown to love gives you a fresh perspective on things. For one thing, I had been annoyed more than once by the mailman's inconsistent schedule. In SAO, all notifications were sent the minute they were written, and Special Events took place on the dot. I could understand being a few minutes late, but an entire half-hour? I was beginning to think the mailman did this to me on purpose.

Stepping away from the curtains, I decided to make myself breakfast, as it was nine o' clock. Another one of my daily pains.

After carefully avoiding the wires strewn across the ground ( if you want a half decent computer setup, you're gonna need a lot of outlets), I opened my door and stepped out. Closing it behind me, I took a few steps towards the stairs.

There was a time when I could walk through this house and have a sense of familiarity with it. After drifting away from my "parents" and Suguha, I had spent most of my time in my room. As I walked down the stairs and through the halls, it all felt new to me, like I was a stranger in someone else's house. Which was ridiculous, of course, but still, I couldn't shake that feeling. In the kitchen, I was greeted to the sight of miso soup and rice, accompanied by grilled fish and an omelet. Courtesy of Suguha, no doubt.

It took only a couple of minutes to eat breakfast, and even then, I still felt empty. Maybe I should go out to the supermarket and pick up some groceries? No, that would take too long, and I didn't have any money. I could go to the mall, where everyone my age normally went to hang out. But I was never the social type. Back to my room? That sounded pleasant.

* * *

Two hours? Really? That's the Japanese mail system for you.

* * *

For some reason, the mailman acted like I _wasn't _supposed to be pissed at him being so god damn late. Of course, I didn't show how angry I was, instead just smiling and saying I understood. Jackass.

Normally I would actually be pretty mellow about something like this, but EIGHT hours is where I draw the line.

In my hands I held the Premium Copy of Sword Art Online. I hadn't yet opened it, and didn't plan to until I was safely back in my room. Sprinting past Suguha and the two friends she had brought to house, I rushed up the stairs and slammed the door shut behind me. Snatching up my Nerve Gear, I leapt onto my bed. Tearing open the brown packaging covering my game, I stared in awe at the new box art. Sure, it still had a huge guy with a huge hammer and a hot chick wearing hot armor, but now they were fighting a leopard-octopus-giraffe-thing. In space.

Kami, I'm a sucker for this game.

* * *

As I've previously mentioned, waiting sucks.

The servers for SAO would start at exactly one o' clock, and I was anxiously waiting. Again. Right now it was seven in the morning, and I had a while to go. I briefly recall being flat out bored when I waited for the beta version of the game to come out. That was a mistake.

Glancing at my Nerve Gear, a fond smile crept on my face. It had taken an entire six months allowance and getting a part-time job, but in the end I possessed a brand new Nerve Gear. A device that I was sure would help me escape reality even further. Suguha had berated me for spending my money on something so frivolous, and in return, I scolded her for buying all those antique kendo swords. As if her collection was more important than mine?

A knock sounded on my door. Hesitantly getting off my bed, I cracked open my door two inches and saw the frowning face of Suguha.

"Kazuto, what are you doing in there? Your gonna be late for school."

"Um, I'm having trouble finding a pair of pants. I'll leave in a bit." I had no intentions of doing such. I was sure just one absence wouldn't harm my permanent record.

Suguha frowned. "Okay, but don't be late. Also, I'll be back a little later than usual, so you're gonna have to cook your own dinner for once.

_You say that like you don't like cooking,_ I thought. " Alright, See you later. Have a nice day."

Those were the last words I would say to Suguha for quite some time.

* * *

Two minutes. One hundred and twenty seconds untill the servers started up.

In order to pass the time until I could log on, I had completed several Sudoku puzzles, watched a few episodes of my favorite anime, and even cleaned the house. It was then that I decided that as soon as I had more money, I would invest in an iPhone 9xL. Apparently the games on that thing were amazing, though not to the extent of the Nerve Gear.

I was ready. My Nerve Gear was warmed up, with SAO already inside. Coffee and soda were on my nightstand, I was already munching on a piece of toffee, microwave pasta was ready to get heated, and ( just in case) even more coffee and soda cases were under my bed. All I needed was an epic chorus as I put the helmet on. Kami, was I ready.

I slid the Nerve Gear on laid down on my bed. All I had to do was say the magic words.

"Link Start!"

* * *

As I was a beta player, I didn't need to go to the character creation screen. Nor was I dropped off at the tutorial Planet of Hades. Instead, I found myself dropped in the familiar hull of the Hades.

_Welcome back, KIRITO._A notification appeared on my HUD. _As one of the beta testers for this game, you will automatically be given 99 experience points._In the right corner of my HUD, I saw the Lvl. Bar almost completely fill. _We here at Argus industries thank you for your patronage._

The notification dissappeared, only for another to pop up._ Congratulations, KIRITO. As the winner of the Premium Package, you will now receive the Lvl8 Anneal Blade, a Lvl5 P-Shield, and Lvl5 Minions. In addition, you have received a message,_a video box with a lock on it appeared, _from the creator of Sword Art Online, Kayaba Akihiko. It will be unlocked once you unlock certain parameters. Also, a deposit of 5000 coll awaits you on the Third Planet. Good luck on your adventure, and enjoy the game._

A message from Kayaba Akihiko!? I idolized the guy, and I got a message from him? Not to mention all that stuff and the coll. The premium package really gave me an unfair advantage, but...

Out of a thousand players, I DID win one of the three. So since I won it, I could do whatever I wanted, right?

With that mentality in mind, I sprinted towards the drop-pods that would launch me to the First Planet below.

Little did I know, that the Death Game had begun.

* * *

AN: Finally, its done. At first, I wrote this chapter in third-person, but then I accidentally deleted it. So this is the rewrite, which is not only longer, but in my opinion, better. Not to mention I fit a gigguk reference in there. 'Till next time! Now go listen to Yuki Kajiura.


	4. How to Ruin Someone's Day

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. This piece of fiction was written for the sole purpose of my enjoyment. On a completely unrelated topic, Morgan Freeman demotivational posters are hilarious. Seriously, every time I see one, I imagine him narrating it. So, yeah, go google that crap. Also, it turns out theres a REALLY good parody of SAO on youtube by swentertainmet. Its too funny for its own good. I mean, one video got them 4000 subscribers, so you know it's hilarious.

* * *

Have you ever leveled up a character in an RPG so much that even the Final Boss was easy? That was the feeling I got as I hacked away at yet another generic mob.

All weapons in Sword Art Online could be upgraded up to five times. The Anneal Blade I had received as part of the Premium Copy was Lvl8, meaning the level cap was increased. If I visited the Augment shop later that day, I could afford a +12 Speed chip. Not only would this further strengthen my weapon, but I could move at the pace I used to.

In the final days of the beta, I had reallocated all my Skill Points into pure Speed. Everything and everyone had always appeared slow to me. Although I couldn't cause much damage when attacking, it didn't really matter when the enemy couldn't hit me. It was how I had earned the nickname the Black Blur, although, only Argo actually called me that to my face.

Speaking of Argo, I was heading toward the Beggar's Camp. It was a pretty obscure place on the map, and certainly wasn't meant to be traveled until a player reached Lvl5, at least. Of course, thanks to the Premium Equipment and the Beta Bonus, I had little trouble getting there. Hell, at this rate, I probably wouldn't need to grind until the Fifth Planet. I wondered whether or not I could take on the Planet Boss at my current state. Then I remembered that Boss Battles actually incorporated strategy, relying less on strength and more on tactics.

I'd probably be slaughtered.

Nonchalantly curb stomping a Dire Wolf, I continued on my way to Beggar's Camp.

Being a game deeply rooted in it's own lore, SAO had a story for nearly every object and location. For example, Beggar's Camp was an attempt to colonize the planet, or it was, until the local mobs ( which the game referred to as Monstirs) nearly wiped the entire place out. Disregarding the name, it was a goldmine for experience points and farming coll. Dozens of simple Fetch Quests were given here, not to mention the secret Side Quest, which I'm sure Argo was planning to complete with me.

Stepping into the camp, I recognized a familiar cloak and headed in that direction.

"Argo, is that you?"

When the figure turned around, a deep red flush crept on my face. The figure in question was a woman with light pink hair, violet eyes, plush lips, a curvaceous body, and wore armor that called her morals into question. I didn't know who this woman was, but it definitely _wasn't_ Argo.

"Geez Kirito, what kept ya? Ya get lost on the way over here?"

Or maybe it was.

"... Argo, that is you... right?"

Argo(?) smiled, and placed her hands on her hips, accenting her avatar's... attractiveness. "Ya like? I was gonna go for the tsundere look like in the beta, but then I decided the hotter I looked, the more customers I would get!"

I frowned. "You might want to rephrase that."

"I will not," she pouted, "besides, you know you like it.

I didn't even refute that.

"So, on to business! How ya doin' Kirito, life treatin' ya well? Touch third base with your girlfriend? Learn how to fly a plane? Kill a man with ya bare hands? Great, that's cool..." her demeanor suddenly shifted, going from playful to deadly in an instant "... you haven't told anyone about what's in the Premium Package, have you?"

I smiled. Good ol' Argo. "No. But I might be tempted to, if a certain info broker can't, oh, I don't know, pay up?" A common theme in my relationship with Argo was this: You're my friend, but I won't hesitate to charge you. The reverse also applied.

* * *

"I still think you overpriced me."

"That's nice."

"No, really, I could've gotten that information anywhere else for half the coll."

"Then you can go track down the other winners."

"I would, but-"

"You love me too much, I know."

"Kirito, you dumba-"

And so that's how the majority of our conversation in the Dire Tunnel went. When me and Argo weren't fending off Mutant Dire Wolves, we would argue back and forth about how I had totally cheated her. Which I did, but wouldn't admit.

We had accepted a Side Quest from a (rather well) hidden merchant in Beggar's Camp. He needed the pelts of ten Mutant Dire Wolves, in order to repurpose them. For what, he didn't say, but I already knew from the beta that he would reward us with some rare armor and decent coll. To find the Mutant Dire Wolves, he suggested we search for tunnels located near poisoned streams. Rather than do that, Argo and I ventured to the end of the map, where a (also well) hidden den lay.

So far, we had yet to run across any players, and were making good time. We only had to collect one more pelt for the quest, but the last one had to be gained from killing the local Field Boss, Kanerdis the Glutton. Field bosses were basically beefed up versions of regular mobs, but with the ability of using Sword Skills and summoning their affiliated monstirs. In our case, Kanerdis was considered to be almost impossible to take out. Only with the combined forces of twelve raiding parties was he brought down in the beta. Luckily, Argo, who wielded Claws, could inflict Critical damage if I opened up the Boss's weakness. Which I planned to do using my turrets. And minions.

Perhaps the most popular feature of Sword Art Online, Tower Plays were considered to be _deus ex machina'_s in a fight. Simply point, select a specific Tower, and it would be deployed from the sky. My personal favorite use of Towers was to aim at the enemy and deploy a Lookout. Since the Towers (according to the game, anyway) were sent from space via the Heathcliff, the sheer impact could crush most low-to-mid level mobs. Whenever I pointed my Launcher, someone was gonna get hurt.

Minions, on the other hand, weren't even featured in the game until halfway throughout the beta. Minions were essentially basic AI bots that you could give orders to. They would carry your orders out to the best of their ability, like helping you scale otherwise unreachable ledges, acting as support, or even going back to the Heathcliff to buy you Med-Kits. Normally you could only summon five at a time, but thanks to the Premium Package, my minions were strong enough to compensate for lack of numbers..

These were the tools that would ensure our victory against Kanerdis.

For five minutes, we ceased our bickering as we searched through the maze of tunnels. Heavy snoors could be heard. No doubt, Kanerdis was nearby.

Taking a left, we finally came upon him.

Kayaba Akihiko had created SAO to be as realistic as possible. This meant you could sometimes crap yourself if you got scared enough. Kanerdis the Glutton was obviously meant to strike fear into the hearts of players. Right now he was asleep, but I knew that the moment we struck him, he would easily tower over us and transform into something more humanoid. His fangs protruded out of his mouth, oozing a sort of black poison. Equally black fur covered him head to toe, and what looked like bronze armor covered a small portion of his back. A wicked-looking sword lay beside him, with shrunken heads tied to the hilt. It was very intimidating, much like the imagery of a huge werewolf in western movies.

Fortunately, he was in a clearing, where the visage of the Heathcliff was visible. This meant I could use my Tower Plays, as they required a clear sky in order to deploy.

Besides, I'm too awesome to be intimidated.

Nodding to each other, Argo and I rushed to battle.

Dashing to the left of the clearing, I aimed my Launcher at the ground. Pulling the trigger, a loud_ whoosh_ing sound filled the air. Moments later, a man sized metal crate crashed to the ground. The crate automatically opened, and a turret had now joined the battle. As a _Mekanist_-class, I possessed a passive ability that strengthened my Towers as long as they were at full health. Which meant they could draw attention away from Argo while she chipped away at his HP.

Launching four more turrets, I then summoned my Minions, which looked like see through versions of my avatar. Ordering three of them to standby and the other two to man the turrets ( this would increase their accuracy), I glanced at Argo, who had finished laying her traps. As a _Hosteliaran, _she had the almost-exclusive ability to lay down traps that could only be set of by mobs. Once again nodding at me, Argo charged at Kanerdis.

Needles to say, he didn't like that.

A primal roar of anger signaled the battle's start.

* * *

_Most Field Bosses summon other Monstirs to defend them. Depending on the Boss, this could happen either at the beginning of the fight, or when it's HP hits the Red Zone. Remember, you can even the playing field by using Tower Plays!_

Mathew Reddeit grimaced. "Why can't these damn things be in English!?"

He had been in the tutorial for some time now, and quite frankly, it was pissing him off. After explaining the basics of the game ( in Japanese. Of course it was Japanese), which Mathew had already memorized before he left America, he had struggled to understand what it was the game was trying to tell him. It wasn't as if he didn't know how to play, but the game kept ordering him to use specific attacks, and wouldn't allow him to harm his opponent until he used the correct attack. He was starting to regret not learning Japanese.

Speaking of his opponent, it lunged at his neck once again, only to miss by inches as Mathew rolled out of the way. Turning around, he met three sets of eyes.

Though he knew next to nothing about mythology, even Mathew knew what he was facing. The title Serberus the Damned flashed above the feral black dogs head. Three heads moved about individually, one writhing in pain, one in anger, and one still as a statue. Powerful muscles rippled across it's body as it stalked around Mathew. Seven creatures of similar phenotypes lay still on the ground, slain by Mathew. Serberus had summoned them to occupy Mathew while it pounced on him. With _that _particular attempt botched, the two beings were now locked in a battle of reflexes.

Actually, Serberus was down to it's last HP, but needed to be killed by a turret. Of course, Mathew didn't know that.

As a matter of fact, everyone else had probably passed the tutorial by now. _They _could read the language.

"FUCKING JAPANESE!"

* * *

"FUCKIN' WOLVES!"

I fought back another chuckle as Argo cursed the mobs that were attacking her. I actually _would_ have laughed, if Kanerdis wasn't trying to inpale me on his sword.

The Field Boss's Health was in the Yellow Zone, nearing Red. For about nine minutes we had bombarded the wolf-man with traps, explosives, and had even Launched a three-ton building on top of it. The turrets had run out of bullets (_ Which reminds me,_ I thought, _how come we can have high-powered turrets, but there's not a single gun in sight?_) the Minions HP was dangerously low, and worst of all, Argo was being assailed by Dire Wolves.

Argo's character class was made to handle one enemy at a time as effectively as possible, and although her claws were sufficient for killing low-level mobs, she couldn't handle numerous mid-level mobs and cover me at the same time because of the multiple wolves that just kept coming.

Maybe we shouldn't have done this by ourselves.

Kanerdis's sword missed my neck by inches, as I back pedaled into one of my turrets. Using my superior speed, which was unusual for a _Mekinist_, I side-stepped another strike, the giant blade creating a deep crater in the Earth. The impact threw me off my feet, and I landed gracelessly in a pile of bones (no doubt Kanerdis's last meal). After recovering and dusting myself off, I looked up just in time to see the Boss lift his sword above his head. The demonic sword radiated red light. My eyes widened in panic. This was the Boss Sword Art _Tenth Circle,_a devastating attack that was infamous in the beta for its ability to kill a Lvl5 player with just one touch. If I didn't dodge that, I would restart back in the Heathcliff, leaving Argo to defend herself against a mob of Dire Wolves and one seriously pissed off Boss.

Speaking of Argo, she must have also spotted Kanerdis's Sword Art, as she turned her back on the mobs she was fighting and threw a small vial at me. Catching it, I realized it was a Half-Damage Syringe. A rare Injection-type medicine that would permanently boost your defense according to the monster you were currently fighting.

And here I was thinking she didn't care.

Quickly injecting myself with it, a feeling of power rushed through my veins.

Just as Kanerdis brought his sword down I rolled out the way. Not unscathed, as the sheer force once again threw me several feet away. After picking myself from the ground for perhaps the umpteenth time, I drew my launcher and fired my last shot, aiming directly at the Boss's head. That being done, I unsheathed my sword and charged.

One of the many exploitable features of SAO was the Sword Art Stance. In essence, it allowed you to prepare a "charged" Sword Art that you could unleash whenever you wanted without first having to start a Sword Art sequence. It sounded complicated, but the easiest way to explain it was that it was used to launch consecutive Sword Arts one after another. An opponent couldn't tell when you were going to use it as it didn't give of the tell-tale glow of a typical Sword Art. This feature was quite useful when you wanted to take down a tough foe without much effort.

Kind of like now.

As a general rule, I always kept the Sword Art _Vertikus_ "locked" in my main weapon, used in case of emergencies. As I charged at Kanerdis, I also locked two more Sword Arts, _Gladias _and _Horizon, _into my blade. Finally, I slung the Anneal Blade over my back and prepared the strongest Sword Art I could use at Lvl6: _Ragnarok._

And I unleashed it.

_Ragnarok_ brought Kanerdis's health to the Red Zone. The blow was so powerful that he staggered. Quickly using _Horizon,_ I further damaged him. He was on his knees now, labored breaths revealing his exertion. As _Gladias _hit him in the stomach, I watched his health deplete to a single point. I was going to finish him off with a _Vertikus._

It was over.

Then he struck.

One of his razor sharp claws grazed my cheek as I back pedaled. He was desperate now, his AI telling him to do whatever it took to reduce me to nothing. I scrambled backwards, staying away from Kanerdis and his claws. Eventually, I hit a wall and could only watch as Kanerdis closed the gap between us.

And how my Tower Play finally arrived and crushed his head.

Kanerdis the Gluttonous had fallen, leaving Kirito the Black Blur 250 exp, 50 coll, a Mutant Pelt, and a pair of Wolfhide Gloves.

I collected my rewards and stored the gloves in my inventory. I could probably sell them for a decent amount of coll in the Heathcliff. A loud cough sounded to my left. Looking at Argo, who was just a bit too close, I saw her with an outstretched hand.

"Ya realize I expect you to split the rewards with me. Feel free to add 20 coll for the Syringe. Ya didn't even need it."

I smiled, glad Argo could battle a large group of Dire Wolves and still be unfazed. "Sure, whatever. It's not like I did most of the work."

"Kirito, you dumba-"

And just like that we fell into our normal routines.

For several minutes we walked through the tunnels and back to Beggar's Camp, acting like we hadn't just taken down a Boss that needed an entire Raiding Party to kill. Just another day in the life of Kirito the Black Blur. Well, one of the lives. There was something bothering me though, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Was it the fact that I had spent over three hours in this game and hadn't taken a break? Suguha wouldn't be home 'till late, but I still had to make it look like I attended school. Or was that it? I'd never skipped a day of school, and this was my first time playing hookey? No, not that either. What was it?

"I mean really Kirito, we could make a fortune selling hints about how to defeat Bosses-"

It had to be important, right?

"-you could be like me, selling info for coll, its alotta money-"

Otherwise I wouldn't have forgotten it? Or maybe it was just-

"-especially if you come out of a Boss fight with just a scratch on yer cheek-"

I stopped walking. Kanerdis had indeed given me a love tap on the cheek. Touching a finger to the injury, I winced in pain at the sharp stinging sensation that followed. Actual blood was on my fingers, crimson as the real thing. And then it hit me. It _hurt._

"Argo?"

She turned around. "Hmm?"

I stared into her eyes. "In the beta, you couldn't feel it when you were hit, right?"

"Well duh, its illegal for the Nerve Gear to let you feel pain." She frowned. "Its so people can't take advantage of the technology."

I showed her my blood-stained fingers. "Then why does it hurt?"

Her face slackened. "What are you talking about? And is that bl-"

One second we were nearing Beggar's Camp, and in a flash of white I was in the by now familiar hull of the Heathcliff, surrounded by a large crowd of players.

What had happened? A forced teleport? No System Administrator could do that, not even in the Beta. Just what was-

**Hello players, and welcome to my world. My name is Kayaba Akihiko.**

The voice came from nowhere, and everywhere. My head rapidly turned in all directions, attempting to locate the source of the voice. When I found none, I noticed the looks on the faces of the other players. Most of them were grim, or looked like the life had been sucked out of them. Just what had happened? Surely they weren't terrified of a forced teleport?

**This is a system announcement of grave importance. I sincerely hope you will all heed my words. I am afraid Sword Art Online is no longer a game. It is now your reality.**

A gaggle of whispers penetrated the crowd, though most of the players still remained as stoic as before.

**Some of you may have noticed that the Log Out button is missing, or that you are somehow feeling pain. These are not bugs, but a feature of Sword Art Online.**

What?

**I am afraid that until my conditions are met, no player that has logged in today will be logging out.**

The whispers intensified, growing into yelling. Demands of what was happening, are you serious, and let us out, were but a few of the protests. The voice ignored them.

**I feel it prudent to mention that if anyone attempts to remove your Nerve Gear, or your HP drops to zero, a small microwave inside the headset will trigger, essentially killing the brain, which in turn kills you. **Windows of light appeared, each showing a news station with the headline: _Cyber-Terrorist holds thousands captive._

What?

**Unfortunately, some family and friends of the Players disregarded my warnings and removed the Gear. As a result, 200 Players have perished.**

_What the..._

**However, you need not worry. I have decided to give you a chance in order to save yourselves. These chances come in the form of three objectives, with only one needing to be completed. The first, is to conquer all 101 planets in the universe of Aincrad. The second, find my hiding place within Aincrad, breach it, and defeat me in a One-on-One Duel. The third...**

_What's going on here?_

**Is to locate and kill all former Beta Testers, of which there are 982 left in the game.**

_... WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING ON!?_

**I hope you all take my message to heart. Again, my name is Kayaba Akihiko, and welcome to Aincrad. Your new home.**

Just as suddenly as we had been summoned, we were sent away. Right to where I had been standing with Argo in the forest.

I stared at the ground, unable to move. Was this real? If we died in the game, our bodies in the real world would die as well? Maybe this was just an elaborate joke, something the Admins had thought up to scare all the newbie players. Right? There was no way Kayaba Akihiko, the man I almost idolized, would trap us all here, right? There had to be something I was missing here. Clear the Game? Defeat the creator of said game? Kill the Beta Testers? No way anyone would do that. Someone from the outside would disconnect us, tell us they'd caught Kayaba, and tell us it'd all be okay.

The part of my brain that knew better said otherwise.

"Kirito?" Looking at Argo's face was surprising. Unlike usual, her face was in a state of worry, a departure from her normal mischievous self. "Are you okay?"

I lowered my face back to the ground. "No. Nothing's okay."

It was official.

We were fucking screwed.

* * *

AN: Just wanted to say that no, I didn't forget about the whole Mirror thing. I have something planned for that particular item in the future. Anyways, how'd ya like the chapter? I think I did a decent job, with the exception of the Boss fight. I get the feeling I rushed it. Oh well. Till next time.


	5. Beta Hunter

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. This piece of fiction is written for the sole purpose of my enjoyment. I used to have this habit where I'd only read fanfics if there were more than 10000 words per chapter. I now see how stupid that is, especially considering my own chapters are barely over 2000 on average. Oh well.

* * *

In the beta version of the game, the Cryex Crystal was used to display the names and classes of the highest ranked players. I was near the top, in the single digits. Argo was somewhere near the middle, since she was more focused on her information network than her Level. Whenever I entered the Heathcliff, I would smile at the sight of fellow beta testers staring at the top, wondering if their name would ever be there.

It was the exact opposite now.

Two months had passed since Kayaba's announcement, and everyone was, well, for lack of a better term, freaking out. After he had teleported us back to the forest in which Argo and I were in during our side quest, we made a beeline for the Heathcliff. Since the only way to get back to the ship was to get to the center of the map, we made a quick stop at Beggar's Camp in order to cash in our reward. After teleporting back to the ship ( a process the game called Particle Accelerate Reintegration), we witnessed panic in its most distinct state.

A few players had managed to keep their heads in the resulting aftermath, but most of them were just running around like beheaded chickens. Every one was yelling over another, and it was impossible to distinguish what was being said. Even so, one statement rang in my head louder than any other.

Why us?

Why us, indeed. Even I could understand that. We would have stayed there longer if someone hadn't yelled:

"Someone find a Beta Tester! They'll tell us what's going on!"

I couldn't help but notice that Argo and I weren't the only ones hightailing it out of there. Stopping only to purchase a tent, which was like a temporary safe spot that could be deployed on the planets, we rushed to Helliot Temple, a safe city where we were sure no players would think to look for us.

At first, it was just me and Argo surrounded by ancient walls and monkish NPC's. Three days later, the first Beta Testers started showing up.

They said they had escaped the shuttle. When I asked them to define escape, they told us that the other players had locked him and any other Testers they could find in the Solitary Confinement ward of the Ship. For hours they had stayed locked up, until one of the... less stable players got in, and PK'ed at least five Testers. The others had used that distraction to escape.

My mind was boggled over two things. The first was the possibility of someone being killed on the Heathcliff. The spaceship was the Main Hub of the game, so naturally a player couldn't get hurt there even if he tried. Yet some of the testers... died? Unless Kayaba deactivated that particular system, it wasn't possible. Well, the man had effectively taken us all hostage, so it was a likely scenario. But did that mean only Testers could be hurt, or was it all players? And could mobs infiltrate Safe Zones too?

The second thing that had my mind in a headlock was whether or not those Testers were actually dead. Sure, Kayaba had said they would die, but it didn't sound concrete. There was no proof as to whether or not dying in the game would literally kill you.

Somehow I knew better.

When I voiced my thoughts to Argo, she had suggested we go check it out. Instead of going right away, I told her we should wait a couple of days, maybe a week, so the players on the Heathcliff could cool down. Maybe then we could reason with them.

After procrastinating far longer than was necessary, Argo had dragged me and one other unlucky soul back to the ship.

Which brings us to the present.

The Cryex Crystal had been replaced with a large metal slab. Hundreds of names were carved into it, with some of them scratched out. I spied my name in the middle, accompanied by my level and class.

"It's a list of all remaining Beta Testers."

I turned my head to the fellow player that had come with us.

Maybe it was his outlandish appearance that caused Argo to drag him along with me here. With long blue hair and the tell-tale muscles of a _Dredknott_, Benest looked more like a new player rather than a tester. Which was probably a good thing, as it would help him blend in. He looked at me, his eyes full of sadness.

"It appeared here an hour after that guys speech. I know it's just the testers because-"

"The giant 'Testers Remaining' sign above it?" Argo said, less humor in her voice than I'd grown used to.

"Well, yeah, that too, but-"

Benest was interrupted once again by a man who bumped into him. Muttering an apology, he left just as quickly as he came. Just as Benest was about to say what he thought of the man's apology, Argo shook her head and walked toward him. Reaching into his pocket as if she did this sort of thing all the time (it honestly wouldn't surprise me if she actually did), she withdrew a small folded paper.

"C'mon guys, lets go some where more private."

It was then that I took my first look at our surroundings.

At first glance, the inside of the Heathcliff looked just like I remembered it. But then I saw the multitude of players still inside, probably because they didn't dare step foot onto the First Planet. Most were huddled in groups of five or six, either sitting down or standing up, but all talking in hushed whispers. The atmosphere was thick with tension, as if a single sound could break it. I couldn't help but notice the few players who were eyeing us, hands on their swords or spears. Probably wondering whether or not we were testers. How did it all go downhill so fast?

It had been a long two months, apparently.

"Kazuto, let's go."

I almost didn't react to my real name, something I caught just in the nick of time. In order to stay incognito, we had decided to not go by our Player ID's, and instead went by our actual names. Mine obviously being Kazuto, Benest's being Meiun, and Argo ( who I'm sure used another alias) was Hige.

Our destination was the Boiler Room of the ship, something Argo had informed me of beforehand. One of her contacts would meet us there and inform us of what was going on in the ship. As the latest information we had gotten from the Heathcliff came almost 60 days ago with the testers, it was important to stay updated on what was going on. I was idly reminded of a movie I saw as a child, where a peaceful village suddenly and violently split, with one always spying on the other. This whole premise seemed to fit our situation rather well.

Once we reached the secluded room, Argo asked us to stand on the other side of the room, as her contact wanted their identity kept from as many people as possible. Understandable, as they were taking a big risk staying on the ship, where a Witch Hunt could begin any minute.

A couple of minutes passed, where Benest and I just twiddled our thumbs in the corner and attempted to make small talk, which didn't turn out too well. We almost missed a cloaked player slip in the room and start to converse with Argo. Five minutes of more awkward silence which was only broken by one of Benest's yawns later, and the player left.

Walking back to Argo, "So, what did he say?

"Nothin' good." Her arms were crossed and her face scrunched in a state of worry. "He says things haven't calmed down at _all._ If anything, they've gotten worse."

"What do you mean, worse?" Benest asked.

"After that whole incident two months ago, the players have grown restless. They expect someone to take charge and tell them what to do. The only problem is..."

I frowned. "No one's willing to take that kind of responsibility."

"Well, yes and no. Ya see, a fellow named Kibaou has been trying to encourage other players to help him and his guild hunt down Beta Testers. He says it's the quickest way to escape the game."

"He's right in a way," Benest stated, "because all three of us know how big this game is. It would take us months, maybe even years to clear just the bottom levels. Finding Kayaba is out of the question, as he could be hiding anywhere. That leaves hunting down the testers." He placed a hand on his chin. "If you look at the problem from his standpoint, it seems the most logical course of action."

"That's nice and all," I spat out out, "but it just so happens the most 'logical' solution is to kill about 1000 people."

"Woah woah woah, time out!" Argo was holding her arms in an X formation, just like a referee would when he saw a foul play. "You yourself said that there's no proof we actually die if our health hits zero."

"I'm sure that's how this Kibaou guy has been rationalizing the whole thing. We stay away from him." I spat this all out from between gritted teeth. "Anything else?"

"He also said some players were organizing a Raiding Party in Gilloz Peak."

"The coliseum on top of Mount Gemett?" Benest frowned, an expression that was becoming predominate in this conversation. "What for?"

"To defeat the Planet Boss." I guessed. That's what Raiding Partys were meant to be used for. "They probably don't agree with the slaughter of testers, and decided to form their own guild. Am I right?"

Argo nodded. "Mostly. It hasn't been decided whether they were gonna take on the Boss or just grind for experience. Either way, it's probably something we should check on."

I closed my eyes, debating on what we should do. We could just return to Helliot Temple and hide from Kibaou and his guild. On the other hand, if we wanted to escape this game with a small amount of casualties, our only option was to clear the game. Neither choice was very appealing.

"Okay. Gilloz Peak it is. By the way, did he happen to know how many of us testers are left?"

Silence.

"Argo?"

"...he didn't know how many of us there are, but he told me how many players had been killed so far."

I grimaced. No matter how low the number was, it wouldn't be pretty. "How many?"

"Over 2000."

That number wasn't low at all. Damn you, Kayaba.

* * *

Getting to Gilloz Peak wasn't hard. It was near the landing point of the Heathcliff's pods, and the mountain it sat on top of was populated only by weak Monstirs who could only inflict a scant few points of damage. Climbing the mountain itself was relatively easy, as Benest had purchased three pairs of Mountain Gear on our way out of the ship. This gave us +9 agility points, so we we could nimbly climb the slopes, jump long distances, and dodge the occasional falling rock. The hard part of the journey came when Argo insisted we downgrade our gear as to better blend in with the other players. As reluctant as I was to temporarily part with my Lvl8 Anneal Blade and Lvl5 P-Shield, I finally stored all my current gear in the inventory. Accepting the Lvl1 St-Rter Blades Argo had procured from... somewhere, Benest and I reactivated our P-Shields. Without the Mountain Gear equipped, we had to take the conventional pass. This took us an extra twelve minutes, which Benest attempted to make less awkward by telling us embarrassing stories about his Real Life. Surprisingly, this tactic worked, as Argo then let slip about a prank she had pulled in grade school that was infamous to this day. Not wanting to be left out, I recounted the time I had accidentally traded my lunches with Suguha, and ended up with a box full of extra hot spicy curry, a departure from my usual ramen cup. All in all, we filled in the time by just talking. At last, we reached the Gilloz Peak.

Long ago, when the God of Serak ruled over Aincrad, he built the coliseum on top of Mount Gemett for his amusement. Gladiatorial games, Alien Fighting, and sometimes even orgies were held there. One day, the hero Heathcliff, which the Main Hub was named after, managed to trick the God into a Duel. At first, Heathcliff appeared to struggle against his opponent. But then, he utilized an ancient magic called _Armageddion _to finally slay the God. This was the first Sword Art, and he taught variations of it to his eventual followers.

Or so the story went. You could never tell with a game like SAO.

Either way, the story explained why at the entrance to the coliseum, a bronzed head that had a passing resemblance to the Gorgon sisters was hung over the gate. Interesting decorations.

Two NPC guards stood on either side of the gate. Although this was a relatively low-level area, attacking the guards under Lvl30 was suicide. Probably why this place was picked to host the potential Raid meeting.

_But how would he know about the high-level guards?_ I thought. Only Testers knew that particular bit of info, and we found out the hard way. It was probably just a coincidence.

The Coliseum, despite being called such, looked more like an ancient amphitheatre. A decent amount of players had decided to attend, maybe around forty. This was acceptable for a Raid Party, I supposed. The three of us took a seat at the far right, isolated from everyone else. Even with our downgraded equipment, we didn't want to risk anyone suspecting us as Testers.

"Ahem!"

Our attention was driven to a man on stage. He had yellow hair ( yes, yellow, not blonde) hair pulled into a small ponytail, with green eyes. His avatar had a thin build, and he had the St-Rter equipment on him. He was smiling, As if he had all the answers in the world, which I couldn't help but like him for.

"My name is Diabel. As you're here, I'm sure you all know what this meeting is about." His voice rang throughout the coliseum, filled with confidence. I couldn't tell if it was forced or not. " We're here to discuss the formation of a guild that not only rejects the idea of hunting Beta Testers, but also intends to clear the game so we can all escape. If you are not interested in such a thing, then you are free to go."

Some players left at that, but the majority stayed.

"Okay, let's get started!" He voiced in the same booming manner. "As you all know, one of the terms Kayaba set for us to escape is to clear all 101 planets. I'm not sure how big the game itself is, but as long as we all cooperate together, I'm sure we can beat this place!"

"Just how do you intend to do that?" One person asked.

Diabel smiled widely and held up a small pamphlet. "This is a Strategy Guide on how to survive the First Planet. It contains fertile hunting grounds, the best locations to farm coll, and information on the Planet Boss. It was released yesterday morning free of charge by an info broker known as Argo the Rat."

Whispers among the crowd ranged from awe to apprehension, to _See Taguchi, I told you those Testers weren't assholes._ Argo didn't even bat an eyelash. I already knew she wrote the Help Guide. Hell, I'd helped her.

The yellow haired man flipped open the book with a flourish. " According to this page here, Duranger the Barbarous's weakness is poison. That means we need a _Mekanist_ who has created Toxic Turrets. Also, since it is a Planet Boss, we will be forced to go into Turn-Based Mode. So Lvl6 Safehouses for everybody, or you can't join. Just so we know we have one among us, would anyone happen to know or be a _Mekanist_?"

Silence answered him. The _Mekanist_ class wasn't the most popular class out there, what with the _Dredknott's _strength and the _Bountaineer's_ near-infinite range with a Crossbow. Seeing no one answer, I did the only sensible thing.

Or the stupidest, you can decide for yourself.

Standing up and raising my hand, "I am."

All eyes turned to me, suspicion in their eyes. While they didn't hate us Testers, we were still considered wild cards in the whole death game. Diabel, however, smiled, as if he had caught a huge fish.

"Great! There's one objective down. We also need several _Bountaineers_," a considerable amount of people raised their hands at this, "...okay, um, we also need, at the least, three Lvl5 _Overlordians. _Anyone?"

And so the meeting went by. Diabel would list off the requirements we'd need to fend off the Planet Boss. Players would then either stand up, or they would assure him they knew where to find a person like that. For half an hour the meeting went like that.

"Okay, anyone else have Lvl3 Minions?"

I raised my hand for the umpteenth time.

"You again, Kazuto? Okay, last thing, we need a specialist in the Claw weapon."

Next to me, Argo raised her hand.

"Alright, Hige, thanks. That's it for now. Now remember, if you meet anyone who you think is interested in this guild," Diabel spread his arms in a welcoming gesture," feel free to tell them about us!''

"Unless they're a Beta Tester. In which case, feel free to tell _us _about _them._" An unknown voice rang through the coliseum.

Turning around, I saw a medium-sized player flanked by two not-so medium-sized players. The one in the middle had the Leviathan Corpse armor equipped, a bone-sword sheathed on his back. He had spiky crimson hair, orange eyes, and a devious smirk on his face. Jumping down all the way to the stage where Diabel stood, he drew his sword and pointed it at the crowd.

"Or better yet, just help us hunt them down yourselves. It's a lot quicker than clearing the game. Besides, if those testers had just committed suicide after Kayaba's announcement, 2000 people would still be here!"

Was he serious? He expected us to do something so crazy?

Apparently he was, as he continued on as if he hadn't suggested a thousand people commit suicide. "Just think: If you go out there and open up the Second Planet, that's just another hiding place for the Testers! It'll take forever to find them all. Also," his smirk vanished, replaced by a look of pure hate, "I heard a couple of Testers are here right now."

I spotted a couple of players glance my direction. Evidently, so did the newcomer, as his eyes met mine.

"Wait a minute, I know you!" He sheathed his sword and started laughing. "I knew it! The person who took down Kanerdis the Glutton all by himself _was_ a Beta Tester! Man, Koyomo owes me ten coll." I saw Argo's eye twitch, but she said nothing. He stopped laughing, but the psychotic smile on his face remained where it was. "Tell you what. In the interest of fair sportsmanship, I won't kill you. Just surrender all your items, and I'll let you live this time."

My eyes narrowed. In the real world, I was often plagued by bullies who thought my diminutive form could be taken advantage of. Once I kicked their asses using karate my grandfather had taught me just as rigorously as kendo, they left me alone.

This guy was no different from them.

"You know, it's rude to not introduce yourself when talking to someone." I stood and walked up to the stage, a confident gait in my steps. I could take this guy. "Or didn't your mother teach you manners? I guess not."

The man's smile faltered, but otherwise stayed where it was. "Oh, cockey are we? Fine. My name's Kibaou, leader of the guild Beta Hunter. And just who might you be?"

"I don't think I'll honor you with an answer. Just know that I don't like you."

Kibaou's smile fell completely at that, replaced immediately by gritted teeth and narrow eyes. He walked up to me and lifted me my by the collar of my shirt. "I asked you a question, punk. To quote a prick I know, it's rude not to introduce yourself."

I smiled.

And then I sucker punched him.

Kibaou backed away, astonishment on his face. His HP bar flashed above his head, 5 points depleted.

"I'm well aware it's rude. That's why I'm doing it." I wasn't being smug, or even sarcastic. As a matter of fact, it was taking almost everything I had to _not _to draw my sword, crappy St-Rter Sword or not. This guy encouraged the deaths of innocent people. Hell, he'd most likely already killed some testers. Even if we weren't stuck in this game, I probably would have hammered this guy in real life, too. "Right now, I'm being lenient. You have one minute to get out of here, before I make you."

"Is that a threat?"

I drew my sword. "No. A threat indicates that there's a chance I won't. This is a promise." I had never been so openly hostile before, but this man...

The tension was so thick it was palpable. The coliseum, which before rang with the gusto of Diabel's voice and the laughter of players, was know as haunted as Heathcliff. Kibaou and I both stood our ground, waiting for the other to strike. Neither of us willing to make the first move.

And then. "Okay, I'll leave. I won't fight you today."

I mentally sighed in relief.

"But he will."

Something was wrong. I quickly rolled to my left, off the stage. Right where I had been, a large mace was now planted in the ground. As Kibaou and I were talking, one of his goons had slipped behind me. Berating myself for not paying attention to my surroundings, I threw the St-Rter Sword at Kibaou. He obviously didn't expect that, as he barely managed to draw his Bone-Sword and deflect it.

Quickly opening my inventory, I equipped my Anneal Blade, which already had four Sword Arts locked on it. Raising the sword above my head in the Sword Art Stance _Reaver's Cloue, _I swiped it downward. A pillar of red light shot out of the blade, on a direct course for Kibaou's goon. Hitting him head on, I watched as he crumpled to the floor, his HP almost fully depleted.

Ignoring me, Kibaou dashed to his fallen comrade. His head turned towards me, shock evident among the many emotions that were clearly running through his head.

"You almost killed him, you bastard!"

"And I suppose it would have been fine if I let him kill me. It was self-defense." Even though I said that, I honestly didn't expect for my attack to almost exhaust his friend's HP. The Sword Art I used wasn't even that strong compared to the Arts I usually used.

Gritting his teeth, Kibaou signaled his other goon, who had until that point remained in the shadows. Wrapping one arm around his friend, he carried the almost-dead player out of the coliseum. Kibaou followed them, but not before he gave me one last message.

"I'll remember this."

And with that, Kibaou, leader of the guild Beta Hunter, and possible murderer, fled Gilloz Peak.

It would not be the last I saw of him.

* * *

"I mean, really, Kirito, if ya don't want people to kill us Testers, ya should start with not killin' Regulars!" Regulars. That's what we were starting to peg non-Beta Testers. Benest had coined the term while describing the short but intense moment between me and Kibaou. He said it was cool.

I didn't feel cool. As a matter of fact, I was exhausted, and Argo scolding me for not keeping the peace wasn't helping either.

"I know Argo. But someone had to put him in his place."

Argo abruptly stopped, turned around, and hammered me on the head. "Dumbass! Now him and his whole guild are gonna be after yer head, stupid!" She seemed to be getting more and more upset the closer we got back to Helliot Temple. "How am I supposed to attract customers with my friendship of Kirito the Black Blur if he's dead?" Ah, so that was it.

I smirked, my emotions already back to neutral after the whole incident. "Well if I recall correctly, you said you would use your Avatar to seduce them."

"Did she really say that?" Benest asked with a sparkle in his eye.

"Indeed she did."

"Kirito, you dumba-"

And just like that, things were back to normal.

I almost forgot we were even in a Death Game.

* * *

AN: So yeah, that chapter happened. Gotta say, it turned out a lot better than I expected. The fight scene between Kirito and Kibaou was originally going to be longer, but I couldn't think of a reason two people would be dukeing it and the players around them wouldn't try to break it up. Also, I urge the reader to remember that the whole Mirror thing hasn't been integrated yet, so the players are still in their Avatar bodies. Until next time.


	6. Grinders

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. This piece of fiction was written for the sole purpose of my enjoyment. You know what else was made for the sole purpose of people's enjoyment? Attack on Titan. It has arguably one of the most badass openings and premises EVER. I swear, that show is gonna be the new Bleach, but BETTER. With that said, enjoy the story. Also, I uploaded a COde Geass story centering around the past of Charles and V.V. If you're a fan of that type of stuff, feel free to go check it out.

* * *

Back when I was a child, I loved the rain. It was something to look forward to, along with Golden Week and, if Suguha happened to remember, Christmas. I vividly recall suiting up in my rain gear, splashing in puddles while the sky-sent water cascaded on my face.

Thanks to Kayaba Akihiko, I now wished rain a horrible, painful, agonizing death, with its body desecrated post mortem.

The rain on top of the Siegfried Mountain was awful. Unlike it's brother, Mount Gemett, Siegfried was inhabited by high level mobs which had natural camouflage abilities. What with the rain pounding your body as the wind attempted to knock you off the mountain, it was a total pain in the ass to climb. Thankfully, I still had the Mountain Gear Benest gave me, so at least it wasn't as troublesome as it could have been.

As I jumped to a ledge on the rock face I'd been climbing for the past two hours, a sudden gust of wind blew me off course. I quickly drew my sword and stabbed it into the cliff, holding on to it for dear life. After all, Fall Damage had been the death of many a player in the Beta. With the whole Death thing happening, I was taking extra precautions. This included Lizard Skin Gloves, which were the only things preventing me from slipping on the slick rocks.

I grabbed a nearby jutting rock and pulled my sword out. I leaped to the next ledge, and repeated this process until I finally hauled myself over the cliff and onto somewhat solid ground.

I hated this stupid mountain.

A message icon popped on my HUD. It was from Argo, probably about some quest she needed my help to complete. I brang up the menu and selected Messages.

_Fnd NthrHwk on sth sd Pss. GRdng rair armor st. Hs 4 sntnls w/it. me n bnst gnna tkle it. u in?_ -rat

As usual, Argo's text messages were almost indecipherable. Roughly translating, and I mean ROUGH, it said: _Found a Nether Hawk on the South Side Pass, guarding a rare armor set. Has four Sentinels with it. Me and Benest are gonna tackle it. You in?_

_No thanks. I'm on the Blade of Hellfire Quest right now. I figure I'll sell it to a player that actually needs it. -Kirito. _Ironic, how a sword that could supposedly control the very element of fire was trapped on top of this rain-soaked hell. Fucking Kayaba.

Not a second had gone by when Argo sent her reply. _K, yor lss. rMmbr 2 brng bK goodiez. -_rat.

Audible sigh. It was days like today, when I was compelled by my need to help others, that I resented being so nice.

Exiting the menu, I walked not two steps before I almost crashed into another cliff wall. Oh goodie, more climbing.

I hated this stupid mountain.

* * *

What was this? Some kind of gag? Who the hell puts boulders made out of LAVA on top of an already hard-to-climb mountain?

* * *

After, somehow, managing to behead a Yeti, who was on FIRE no less, I calmly walked into the cave it was protecting. This was where the Field Boss, Nikoli the Crimson resided. He held the sword that I had tried to get my hands on for the past four hours, and a valuable Restoration Item that let you resurrect a fellow player. It could have changed into something different by now, but if it was the same, I had the potential to prevent someone's death.

Maybe this was what kept me from risking my life.

If it was cold outside, it was even more so in the cave. The temperature, which I could barely stand before, plummeted to absurd degrees. I found myself reaching for a bottle of Pyro Incense, but decided against it. I would get plenty warm fighting Nikoli.

Deeper into the cave I went. Occasionally I would spot a pile of glittering emeralds or nuggets of gold. In Real Life, I would have immediately brought out my sack (which I may or may not keep on my person at all times ) and filled it with the treasure, but sadly, coll was the only accepted currency in SAO. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, looking like they were ready to impale me at the slightest jiggle. The cave gave off the general creepy vibe you get when entering a forbidden place.

Suddenly a loud growl filled the cave. It appeared Nikoli was up. But that wasn't right, Field Bosses only became active when a player attacked them...

I sprinted towards the source of the growl. Some one needed my help.

Thirty seconds later, and I found myself in a clearing identical to the one Argo and I had fought Kanerdis the Glutton in. Three players were facing off against Nikoli, a colossal Yeti with red fur who wielded an ice club with humanoid bones sticking out of it. He bellowed his primal roar yet again as he smashed his club where one of the players had dodged at the last second. Scanning the clearing, I noticed a distinct lack of turrets or Health Stations. Did these guys really think they could take Nikoli on with just their swords?

Evidently they did, because one of the players, a lanky sort with long red hair that reahed the middle of his torso, wore a bandanna, and carried a katana, charged without warning at the yeti. Lifting his sword above his head, he managed to make a deep slash into Nikoli's forearm. Another player, who brandished a rapier and was covered by a cloak, used the Sword Art _Pierreti _to stab into the yeti's leg. The third player reloaded his crossbow and fired into the beast's shoulder. All these attacks seemed to only anger Nikoli, as I saw only six points deplete from his Health Bar. Just how low-level were these guys? They weren't even using their Minions.

Drawing my launcher and firing it into the ground, a Lightning Archer descended from the heavens. I heard the device charge up, and blast Nikoli in the chest just as he was about to bring his club down on the rapier-wielding player. He flew backwards and crashed into the wall, a Stun Icon above his head.

I summoned my Minions and ordered them to assault the yeti. As they suicidally charged the beast, I locked six Sword Arts onto the Anneal Blade. The weight of the sword became heavier as each Sword Art was applied, but I was determined to lock on at least ten. When I finally got in the Sword Art Stance for _Ragnarok, _the other players had gotten over the shock of someone coming to their aid, and resumed their offensive. Taking advantage of Nikoli's temporary stun, the katana user sliced into the Boss's torso, determined to end him. A steel arrow planted itself into the yeti's neck, landing a Critical Hit. The cloaked player, who seemed to remember that she could use Tower Plays in this clearing, launched a Turret next to my Lightning Archer, which was recharging. Although it's level was low, it did it's job, firing bullets at Nikoli just as he recovered.

During this whole time, I had stood in the same place, locking my tenth and final Sword Art onto the Anneal Blade. I staggered under the weight of the normally light sword, but I was determined to use all of it's accumulated power.

"Everyone, lure it towards me!" I yelled through gritted teeth. They must have heard me, as all three retreated to where the two Towers were.

Nikoli's AI wasn't very complex. In the Beta, Argo actually managed to get him to fall off the entire mountain, and she ended up not having to lift a finger to complete the Quest. The Boss was programmed to smash the closest thing that happened to attack it. Coincidentally, I was the closest to him, and as I had technically fired a bolt of synthetic lightning at him, I also attacked him. And so he charged me, roaring menacingly all the way.

Dumbass.

Just as he was in striking distance, my Lightning Archer once again fired at his chest. As he was immobile, I unleashed _Vertikus, _which may I add isn't the strongest Sword Art in the game, and hit him, wiping away almost a third of it's HP. I became I blur as the other Sword Arts locked in my blade came pouring out like a burst dam. Though the fourth Sword Art completely demolished his Health, I continued to attack, mainly for the bonus experience points that came with assaulting a Boss's body before it disappeared.

As I finally brought _Mosaic Smash _on Nikoli's head, he stumbled to his knees. Letting out one last ragged breath, he exploded in a flash of blue light.

_Congratulations! You have defeated Nikoli the Crimson!_

_Rewards: Blade of Eternal Hellfire (1), Respawn Tonic (1), EXP (750pp), Coll (750pp), Tower Upgrade (1pp)_

_Bonus EXP: Kirito, +200._

I sheathed my sword, letting out a small sigh. That was two Field Bosses down. Eight more to go.

"Hey!"

I turned towards the player who called out to me. It was the katana user. Him and his friends were walking towards me.

"You really saved our skins there, thanks a lot." Said the crossbow wielder.

I smiled. "Don't mention it."

"Thanks." Mumbled the cloaked player. I felt the need to assure them thanks weren't needed, when the katana user threw his arm over my shoulder.

"Thanks indeed! That was totally badass man! Where'd you learn to play like that?" He was getting a little to familiar for my tastes, but I guess this was how he acted all the time.

"Well, my friend was a Beta Tester. He taught me how to play before... you know. My name's Kazuto." This was a story Argo had pounded into my head until I had it memorized. She said that although most players weren't too hostile to us, that didn't mean some of them would try to kill us the minute they found out.

"Oh shoot, where are my manners?! Right, introductions!" He jabbed his thumb at himself. "My names Klein, leader of the guild Fuurinkazen Brigade! This is Kamina," he gestured to the crossbow user, who gave a friendly wave," and this is Asuka." He pointed at the cloak-bearer.

Asuka cleared her throat. "We've been over this. My name's Asuna." Oh, okay. So apparently _Asuna _cleared her throat.

"Nice to meet you all. You're all in a guild together? That's nice."

Klein chuckled nervously. "Well... actually, I lost the members of my guild."

I blinked once, then twice. "...what?''

Asuna placed her hands on her hips. "He said he was leading his guild to Mount Gemett, when they took a wrong turn and headed for Siegfried Mountain instead. I was just passing through."

"Yeah, and I was actually hunting some Gnome Rabbits. Their hides are worth triple the value for the next two days."

My eye twitched. "You guys do know that this _is _Siegfried Mountain, right?"

Three owlish eyes met my apprehensive ones. I didn't think so.

"Really?" They said simultaneously.

"Yes, really!" I couldn't help but yell the statement. "What were you guys thinking! You even took on a Field Boss without using any Tower Plays! Were you all dropped on your head or something?" I pointed at Klein. "And you! I didn't see you even _try _to use a Sword Art! Are you all trying to get yourselves killed!?"

Asuna adjusted her cloak, Kamina looked away, and Klein was simply dumbfounded. Did these idiots even know what was at stake here? They had just risked their lives, all because they got their information wrong and ended up on the wrong _Mountain_!

"That's it, all of you, come with me." I turned about-face and started to march out of the cave. They must have followed me, because I heard three pairs of boots crunch through inch-high snow.

"Um, Kirito, sir, where are we going?" Asked Kamina.

"TRAINING." I snapped.

* * *

One could only challenge the Planet Boss when all ten Field Bosses were killed. That meant with the death's of Kanerdis and Nikoli, eight more monstrosities needed to be taken out in order to clear the First Planet. It had already been four months since Kayaba trapped us in here. Not even in the Beta did it take us this long to clear a planet, but to be fair, we didn't think we'd actually die. I didn't think we would be able to clear this game for a while. The scale of the game was simply just to huge. In the Beta, you could teleport yourself to any location on the planet via the Heathcliff. This made finding and slaying all the Bosses easier, not to mention the threat of death wasn't hung over our heads. Now, you were deposited in a pre-set position, and it could take days to reach your actual destination. This was the case with the guild Boot Camp.

After essentially kidnapping Klein, Asuna, and Kamina, I graciously gave them an advanced crash course on the gameplay of Sword Art Online. Recruiting them in a new guild was easy, and it only took a small amount of effort to convince Klein to temporarily quit as leader of Fuurinkazen Brigade. The hard part was finding a decent spot to train.

Players were starting to come to grips with this new reality, and survival instincts kicked in. Most of the Beta Testers were content to remain hidden in Helliot Temple, but a majority of Regulars had decided to take up arms and either clear the game, or clear the game of Testers. This resulted in an information overload, with Regulars tracking down Info Brokers and finding fertile hunting grounds. Beggar's Camp, Ascent Station, and the Luneter Relays had all been infested with power-hungry players. Rumor had it that Kibaou and his guild were sweeping the Nutresent Highlands for Testers and items. The only place left for Boot Camp to 'train' (and I use that word lightly, because what I was actually going to do was _destroy _them) was a spot only me and Argo were aware of.

The Devil's Doorstep.

Back before the Heathcliff attempted to colonize the planet, a cargo ship accidentally spilled some of it's livestock near a Lava Lake. These animals adapted to their newfound enviroment and bred with the indigenous population of Scissor Crabs. The result was a bastardized version of what looked like a dragon, a giant crab, and a fish. That could swim in lava.

"Did that thing just hop out of the lake filled with Lava?" Asuna asked this question the same way one would ask about the weather.

"Yes, Asuna, yes it did."

"Oh. Can we kill it?"

"Yes Asuna, yes you may."

And so the rapier-wielding cloaked player proceeded to kill the thing so hard it died to death.

With that incident over and done with, the four players continued onward. It was the same repeated process. I would attack a Monstir until it's HP hit the red zone, and then either Klein, JohnnyJ, or Asuna finished it off. Since these were high-level mobs, they would gain an enormous amount of experience. Eventually, they all reached Level 12. I was Level 37, and wouldn't need to grind until the fifth or sixth Field Boss. I was all too willing to train some directionless players.

It was after the third time Klein had attempted to dispatch a small Scissor Crab that Asuna and Kamina wandered off on their own. I stayed with the Katana wielder to make he sure didn't try anything stupid. Despite being deceptively good with his blade, Klein had trouble initiating a Sword Art. The other two had already mastered the motions, but Klein appeared to be a more casual gamer, and thusly didn't have the concentration needed to launch a Sword Art, let alone lock one onto his blade.

"Your problem is that you don't compensate for a delay." I pulled out my Anneal Blade to demonstrate. "You can't just lift your sword over your head and launch an art. You need to give the system a moment to understand your intentions." I reverse-gripped the blade and held it low to the ground. A second later, my blade glew a faint purple. Slicing it upwards, a large blast of energy ripped through a nearby Scissor Crab that had tried to creep up on us from behind. Once the mob shattered into code, I sheathed my weapon as Klein looked on in astonishment. "If I hadn't waited for the system to recognize my Stance, I would have made a regular upward attack. But because I was willing to wait but a moment, my attack turned into a Sword Art, _Dionysus Swipe_ to be precise."

"Woah! Wait, what about that thing you did in the cave to that yeti-thing?"

"You mean Nikoli? Oh, that was a technique called Sword Stance. It allows you to launch multiple Arts simultaneously."

Kleins eye's lit up in a sense of familiarity. "Sword Stance? I think Yulrik said something about that."

I turned to him. "Yulrik?"

"Yeah, he's an online friend of mine. Met him while playing World of Ironcraft. He was a tester for SAO's Beta, you know." The smile I had started to get used to on Klein's face waned a bit at that. "I hope he's okay. We agreed to meet once I'd finished the tutorial. I hadn't even said Hi to him yet when this whole fiasco started."

I wasn't sure to say. Other than Argo, the only interaction I'd had with people recently were Suguha and even more recently, Benest. This was a situation I wasn't equipped to deal with. So I said the only thing that came to mind. Pulling up the most believable fake smile I could muster, "I'm sure he'll be okay. I've heard those Beta Testers are pretty tough."

"Aren't you a Tester, Kirito?"

My smile vanished, replaced by a frown. As if by habit, my hand tightened on the grip of my blade. "What makes you say that?"

Apparently the tension I admitted was palpable, because Klein immediately went on the defensive. "I didn't mean anything by it! I just thought, you know, the way you handled yourself against that Kibaou guy at the coliseum, you'd be a Tester. I'm not like him, I swear!"

I lowered my guard, but not entirely. If he was at the coliseum that day, then I suppose it made sense he'd think I was a Tester. Hell, DIABEL almost certainly knew I was, if the hints he was dropping were anything to go by. Besides, in the short time that I've known Klein, he didn't seem like the type of guy that would lie. Granted, this was still technically a game, where you could hide your emotions easier than IRL, but I digress.

"Alright Klein, I trust you. Just... keep it a secret for now."

The katana wielder smiled, giving me a thumbs up. "No problemo!"

After that, I made Klein slay a few more mobs. I would whittle down the higher leveled Lava Centipods (which were basically centipedes made of lava. Seriously, this palce was almost as bad as the Siegfried Mountain) to a fourth of their health, and Klein would finish it off, usually with a something that resembled a Sword Art, but lacked the strength and glow of the game's namesake. The idea was to quickly get him to Level 18, where most lower forms of Sword Arts could be executed on the fly. We met up with Asuna and Kamina, who brought back the carcass of a Fire Slug. He was proud of his trophy, claiming it took quite a bit of effort on his part to kill the damn thing. He was in such high spirits, I didn't have the heart to tell him that Fire slugs were the equivalent of Slimes in other RPG's, and that their carcasses sold for a measly 2 coll.

Most of the day went by like this. Eventually, all members of the guild Boot Camp reached Level 20, something I was confident I could leave them with.

"You're leaving?"

I stared at Asuna, regarding the genuine hurt on her features. "Well, yeah. I just wanted to make sure you guys were at a high enough level to handle yourselves." We were at the Maw of Flames, aka the entrance to Devil's Doorstep. No mobs that I knew of traveled this close to the Maw, and as such, I was saying goodbye to the three. "I'm sure you guys need to get back to your friends."

Klein smiled nostalgically, Kamina grinned sheepishly, but the hurt on Asuna remained where it was.

"Well then, it was nice meeting you, Kirito. If you ever need help with anything, just remember," he paced his hands on his hips and yelled to the heavens dramatically," the might of the the invincible Fuurinkazen Brigade will always be at your side." He pointed towards the stars, a glint in his eyes. "Going beyond the impossible, and kicking logic to the curb. That's the way Team Fuurinkazen rolls!"

"..." Me.

"..." Asuna.

"...um, Klein?" Kamina.

"Yeeeeees?"

"What are you talking about?"

"_The hell do you mean? _I just quoted the biggest badass on the face of the Earth, who, by the way, you happened to be named after(*), and you ask me what I was talking about?"

"Um, this is my actual name."

Klein looked like he was about to have a panic attack. "None of you know who I just referenced? Asuna?" A blank stare. "Kirito?" A shake of the head. "I think I'm gonna faint."

To my surprise, Klein actually _did _look like he was going to bowl over. Kamina put one of his arms under Klein's. "Don't worry, I've got you." He glanced at me apologetically. "I'll take him to the Heathcliff. I'll make sure he finds his guild once he gets better." Reaching in his left pocket, I was mildly surprised to see Kamina pull out a Homing Beacon, the SAO equivalent to Transport Crystals. They were pretty rare on the first planet, and I idly wondered where he had gotten one from. "It was nice meeting you, Kirito."

"I mean, yeah, it's fifteen years old, but still..." I heard Klein mutter. With that, him and Kamina disappeared in a flash of blue light.

I turned to meet Asuna's gaze, which hadn't changed a bit. A hint of concern passed through me. "Where are you headed, Asuna?"

Almost as if she had been expecting this question, she drew her cloak, which she still wore, closer to her. "Actually, I've been camping on Siegfried Mountain for the past few weeks."

"You mean you've been on that mountain that whole time? Isn't it cold? Even though a tent gives you a temporary Safe Zone, it doesn't block out the temperature."

She then said something that set off my built-in Brotherly Protection(C) senses.

"A tent can do that? Hm, no wonder they were so expensive. I'll have to buy some the next time I visit a ship."

She had been sleeping in arguably one of the most dangerous places on the First Planet, _without a tent?_

"Yeah, you're spending the night at my place.

* * *

Mathew Reddeit was tired, confused, and really wished he could speak Japanese.

After completing the tutorial, which had taken him five hours, he was dumped in the hull of a crappy-looking spaceship, surrounded by people. Someone, though he wasn't sure who, gave a long and, to Mathew, incomprehensible speech. Once that was over with, he was dropped into what vaguely resembled a swamp.

Killing a couple dozen monsters was enough for him to get back into a good mood, until his stomach gave an aching groan. Realizing that he should probably log out for a quick snack break, he found out, to his horror, that the log out button was missing. Which meant that until an Admin fixed the problem, Mathew wouldn't be consuming his Cheerios anytime soon.

Unfortunately, the button was still MIA.

He had wandered aimlessly for days, wondering why he wasn't dead from dehydration IRL. He figured the game must have one of those Time Acceleration features that he'd heard about so much. This theory seemed to be right, as several weeks rolled by without any incident. Oh sure, he'd encountered a few hysterical NPC's (he thought) that would throw themselves into a pit of lava or a puddle of acid. Hell, he'd even seen one guy summon a turret, only to put his face to the barrel. He figured _those _people were Trollers.

Recently, he had met a young man who, thankfully, spoke sweet, sweet English. Well, more Engrish than anything, but still. This player confirmed Mathew's theory that yes, Time really was moving at a faster pace than IRL, and that no, he shouldn't be worried. This calmed Mathew down significantly, who was starting to think of crazy scenarios involving a madman trapping people in a game. That reminded him way too much of that old anime show he used to watch. Dot Hakslash, or something.

Right now, him, the aforementioned English speaker, and about twenty other players were gathered around twelve other players, whose hands were tied behind their backs and gagged. They were a rare type of Mob the English speaker, whose name was Kabob or Kibow or something, called "Testers." According to Kaboo, slaying one of these testers would give you an experience boost, and all of their equipment.

As Mathew lifted his sword over the bound players, he couldn't help but be thankful to Kibomb, as without killing these human-like mobs, he'd probably get nowhere in this game.


End file.
